Bradley men’s basketball will play Memphis

PEORIA — The Bradley men’s basketball team’s early December road trip has doubled down on intensity.

The Braves will visit Memphis on Dec. 6, three days before going to Kansas State, giving Bradley a pair of games against two teams that played in the NCAA tournament last season.

Neither game will entail a return contest in Peoria.

Bradley and Memphis were Missouri Valley Conference rivals in the late 1960s and early ’70s, during which the Braves won seven of the 12 games. Memphis has won five of the six games played since departing the Valley in 1973.

The most recent meeting occurred during BU’s deep run in the 2006 NCAA tournament, when the Tigers beat the Braves in the Oakland Regional semifinals.

Bradley won the first game in the series, defeating the Tigers in the 1957 NIT championship game, which was one of 16 included in fan voting to determine the BU program's "Game of the Century" as part of the Braves' centennial celebration.

That game pitted first-year Bradley coach Chuck Orsborn against his predecessor, Bob Vanatta, who had left BU after posting a 22-33 record in two seasons. Vanatta is the only Bradley coach since 1920 to complete his tenure here with a sub-.500 record. Orsborn went on to be voted Bradley's "Coach of the Century."

Memphis is coached by Josh Pastner, who is 130-44 in five seasons. The Tigers are 33-4 at home the past two seasons, with one of those losses coming to 2013 NCAA champion Louisville and two to 2014 champion UConn.